Want to go? Prepare to pay

Steve Marcus

Janis Persha of Las Vegas cheers on NASCAR’s Kasey Kahne during qualifying Friday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. On Sunday, speedway executives will have reason to cheer, too, as scores of fans pay big bucks to see the UAW-Dodge 400 in style. Helicopter rides to the track, premium seats and admission to the Neon Garage are available — for a price.

By Ron Kantowski (contact)

Saturday, March 1, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Steve Marcus

NASCAR fans unwind at the Neon Garage after Friday’s qualifying at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Admission to the interactive garage area runs up to $275 a person, not counting the cost of beer.

Gentlemen (cha-ching!), start your engines (cha-ching!).

Actually, the clang of the cash register won’t drown out the roar of the engines during NASCAR weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. But if you see the speedway bean counters wearing earplugs, it might not be because Dale Earnhardt Jr. is about to embark on a qualification attempt.

If you want to experience NASCAR weekend in all its visceral glory, it’ll cost a minimum of $117, the lowest officially advertised price I have seen for admission to the track for all three days.

But if you want to experience NASCAR weekend in style, or are related to a Rockefeller, here’s what it could cost:

• Premium seating in the Vegas Clubhouse in the main grandstand: $849. It’s a great seat and somebody will bring you beers. A seat in the Dale Earnhardt Terrace or the Richard Petty Terrace costs $249, but you’ll have to fetch your own beers. And no, there is no Jimmy Spencer Terrace for those on fixed incomes.

• Infield RV parking: $900. But at least the Molly Hatchet concert blaring from the speakers atop the RV parked right next to yours is free.

• Neon Garage admission: $275. You get to watch guys named Chocolate and Fat Back change tires with those cool-sounding air guns. Vroop! Vroop! Vroop! Vroop! But you probably won’t be able to hear the nuts fall off, because Blue Man Group will be beating on Dale Jarrett’s blown transmission with a sledgehammer.

• A wristband to stand on the track at the start-finish line during driver introductions: $75. I was going to say you should just wait until they bring the drivers around the track in pickup trucks to yell “Woo-hoo!” at your favorite lead foot now making his home in North Carolina. But then when Robin Leach calls Morgan Shepherd’s car the “Racing With Hay-Zeus Dodge” over the public address system, you couldn’t call him a pinhead and have him hear you.

• Track walk with Kyle Busch: $35. At least this money goes to charity instead of Bruton Smith’s pocket. But don’t forget it’s a mile and a half around and those new high banks are pretty steep.

• Track walk with Tony Stewart to NASCAR hauler: Priceless.

• Helicopter ride to and from the track: Market price. We’re hearing a round trip on Sunday is $399. One way is $299, so if the buddy you ride out with has too many beers and/or loses his keys, there’s always that option.

• Beer at the track: $7.

• Times 10 (the NASCAR average): $70.

• Total cost for doing NASCAR weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Rockefeller style: $2,603.

• Make that $2,625. I almost forgot the $22 for the mandatory Dale Jr. T-shirt.

For the sake of comparison, you could watch last year’s Champ Car race from the roof of Binion’s for free.

Now you know why the Champ Car series folded last week.